I think a lot about the balance between ‘We cannot be all things to all people’ and also respecting and trying to find the middle way. In some ways, might this middle ground, the compromise, be the way of God. In Quaker discernment we wait in worshipful silence to find the way together. We might fear this would always be the lowest common denominator or the answer no one wants, but usually together there is a sense of ego-less-ness in order to find a way forward.

I hope the new garden can be a Commons, a common ground for everyone in the area to come together and be together in that which is eternal. To have empathy for our differences but not split ourselves into pieces or reduce other people to tears in order to try to please everybody. The bridge-builders and peacekeepers to do not need to be people pleasers. We need to not be bridges that are walked all over, but rather that our backs and our own boundaries are strong enough to help find the middle way that people walk over with as much grace as we can muster…